Current issue: 58(4)
Seasonal changed in total nitrogen, protein, amino acid, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite concentrations, and nitrate reductase and γ-glutamyltransferase activities in the needles, buds and shoots of young Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) were studied. A relationship between the variation in the nitrogen metabolism and both winter dormancy and its breaking was proposed. Pine tissues stored soluble nitrogen over the winter largely in the form of arginine which, in addition to a high nitrogen content, can neutralize acidic cytoplasmic constituents such as nitrates and nitrites. Specific nitrate reductase and γ-glutamyltransferase activities were highest in late summer or autumn, and is apparently connected to the mobilization of nitrogen reserves for the winter.
The PDF includes an abstract in Finnish.